This was the second in the series of Wii championship and again Tennis was the game of choice for the championship. We planned to hold the WII championship II on Republic Day, 26 January 2008. For those who want to have a look at the complete planning and hosting details along with the league table check out this page.

The planning of the event started in the first week of January and the games were decided based upon the priorities of the users. The participant got the option to prioratise their choice of games and Tennis came out as the choice of the game. Interestingly, the kids below 5 years were more interested in bowling and in the previous WII championship they didn't really enjoy playing Tennis. So, we decided to have Bowling as the choice for the kids under five. You may check out the voting chart along with the details of the league here.

The event started at 15:00 hrs with the flag hosting and national anthem Jan Gan Man. We sang with the pre recorded version to ensure that we finish the national anthem in 52 seconds to ensure dignity and honour to our national anthem. For our small kids who are either in England from early childhood or born here, this was something quite strange and new. They were puzzled to find everyone standing in attention on such a music. We, intentionally, did it so that they get to learn how we sing and honour our national anthem. Here's the gang who participated in the flag hosting. In the spirit of the classic tradition - "गणतंत्र दिवस के शुभावसर पर झंडोत्तोलन तदोपरान्त मिष्ठान्न का आवंटन", flag hosting was followed by distribution of sweets. Unfortunately, we didn't have the luxury of logistics to manage either jalebi or laddu and hence had to do it with Ferro Rocher.

Madhulika had specially written a poem for the occasion and she read it for everyone. She was applauded for her wonderful creation and presentation. This is how the poem read (reproduced with permission from the author).

=| आज़ादी के साठ साल |=

आज़ादी के साठ साल।
और मचा देश में महाकाल।।
अब कहाँ देश और क्या गौरव।
अब रहा नहीं ये बेमिसाल।।
किस किस ने इस पर जान दिया।
इस देश को इतना मान दिया।।
पर भ्रष्ट सभी नेता हो गए।
मिलकर इसको शमशान किया।।
कहते थे इसको चिड़िया सोने की।
अब दशा है इसकी बस रोने सी।।
न बिजली है न पानी।
और जनसंख्या है बेहिसाब।।
लिखने बैठूं तो लिख दूँ मैं।
इसके दुखों पर एक किताब।।
सबने इस दुःख से बचने का।
सरल रास्ता ढूँढ लिया।।
छोड़ा देश बस गए विदेश।
और देश को बस गुड बाय किया।।
जब नहीं है करना कुछ फ़िर क्यों।
हम मिलकर ये पर्व मनाते हैं।।
झूठ-मूठ के लिए ही हम।
भारतवासी कहलाते हैं।।

Needless to mention that the most enthusiastic lot were the kids. You can see the kids all geared up for the game and waiving the Tiranga. Thanks to Vinay who did the wonderful job of preparing the Tiranga for the kids.

The spirit of Republic Day and the Tiranga was so high that the gang made it the undeclared dress code. Here you can see the Mishra's trying to build the Tiranga.

Shukla's put in their own creative effort of showing off the Tiranga and everyone agreed that they did real justice to it. Danish took the spirit to another level by featuring the Tiranga hand print on his brilliant white T-shirt. We had a quick photo session to make the event memorable and everyone posed for the photos in different styles and combination. If you want to look at the complete photo album it is available here.

Everyone had sweets and grabbed their drink. In the meantime, Arora's and Aggarawal's also arrived. Though, they missed the flag hosting but managed to make it before the start of the league. As the clock ticked 15:30, the under 5 kids's tournament kicked off and we saw 3 girls bowling with the best of their abilities. Saumya, Anoushka and Pankhuri amazed us with their understanding of the game and the controls of the remote. They all know how to zoom and align with appropriate allowance. They know at what angle to hit to achieve the strike and most important they know the etiquette and rules of the game - they precisely knew who's turn it was to bowl and duly honoured and cheered up the competitor’s game. We are proud to find the sportsman spirit proliferating, at such an early stage, in our kids. Wonderful performance by all of them and Saumya turned out to be the best among the equals. The youngest lady managed to grab the title.

Next event was the senior kid's title and everyone wanted to see how much these kids are prepared. We were expecting some of the finest WII tennis from Naval, Danish and Atulya and no one was disappointed. Everyone wanted to get some tips from these little fellows and their games were noticed and appreciated from every angle. They were the real threats, in the open championship, for the adult participants. Naval came up with flying colours and grabbed the kids tennis title.

Finally, it was time for the open title. Guess, who where the real threats? They were none other than the 3 kids - Naval, Danish and Atulya. They were the finest players in the whole league. Yogesh, played very well and everyone agreed that he has improved a lot. There was a visible difference in his game. All, who took him light, were biting dust. Biggest disappointment came from Madhulika and Rashmi. They are the real professional who are rated 2000+ by WII but they were knocked off in the first round itself. Hard luck, its game mate. Vinay and Naveen were there in their usual form and the spectators enjoyed their game. Rajkumar, Sarika, Sonal and Priyanka all put in their best effort and played a very good game. Guys, come on! It's WII; we want you to surprise us with your performance. Wait till the next championship, you never know who surprises you with his/her performance and tricks. I was as usual playing in my funny posture, vajrasaan more popularly called as hanumaan aasan by my mates. I had a difficult time defeating Danish in the semi final. The final came out as a real disappointment and surprise to everyone. I lost to Naval in straight sets. Everyone was expecting some real tennis in the final but Naval was already prepared for the show. He surprised everyone by is excellent performance and volley. I disappointed everyone by loosing in straight sets. Believe me; he was too much for me. I tried my best but he treated me as if it was a clild's play for him. Thus, Naval became the title holder again. Congratulations, Naval! Keep it up!!

After the announcement of the title everyone was busy chatting and waiting for the final event - the dinner. We had some time before the dinner and something happened that was not planned. We turned on the music and the dance kicked off. We put on Pankhuri's disco light and my living room turned into a real dance floor. It leveled everyone and first time my home theatre system turned to its full volume. Thanks to Saro and Bindu for their patience downstairs.

The dance had to be stopped to have the dinner. The prize distribution ceremony followed after that and all the kids were honoured for their participation in the event.

Thanks to all of you for making the event such a big hit.